What is the Annual Review Process (and what is it for)?
The Annual Review Process is the statutory process of looking at the needs (Section B), provision (Section F) and outcomes (Section E) of your child/young person's EHC Plan and deciding whether anything needs to change. It also gives you and your child/young person an opportunity to update the ‘All about me’ section (Section A).
There are three stages to the Annual Review Process which can take around 4 to 12 weeks to complete in total.
The first review must be completed within 12 months of the first EHC Plan being finalised.
Following reviews must take place within 12 months of the last Annual Review decision (or within six months if your child is under five years of age).
The local authority must notify you of its decision to either maintain the plan, amend the plan or cease the plan within four weeks of the Annual Review meeting
Person-centred reviews: What this means
The SEND Code of Practice expects Annual Reviews to use a person-centred approach. This means that children/young people will be supported to contribute to the Annual Review Process and the process /conversations should focus on:
- what matters to your child/young person now and in the future
- what support helps
- what is (and is not) working in their day-to-day life.
Settings will use different ways to support the child/young person and their family to share their views. The SEND Code of Practice, p147-148, provides further information on involving children/young people in decision making.
For an overview of the Annual Review Process, please see the animation below.